{"id":20528,"date":"2025-12-04T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/?p=20528"},"modified":"2025-12-03T09:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T17:07:54","slug":"how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/2025\/how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read\/","title":{"rendered":"How to address text complexity and help students understand what they read"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"850\" height=\"299\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/uploads\/2023\/11\/how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read_850x300_hero-e1701113794246.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/uploads\/2023\/11\/how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read_850x300_hero-e1701113794246.png 850w, https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/uploads\/2023\/11\/how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read_850x300_hero-e1701113794246-300x106.png 300w, https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/uploads\/2023\/11\/how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read_850x300_hero-e1701113794246-768x270.png 768w, https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/uploads\/2023\/11\/how-to-address-text-complexity-and-help-students-understand-what-they-read_850x300_hero-e1701113794246-720x253.png 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:3rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<p>When was the last time you had to read something you couldn\u2019t understand? Stumped? That\u2019s probably because you\u2019re an excellent reader. I\u2019m an excellent reader, too, so I asked my sister if I could review an article she was writing in support of her doctoral dissertation. \u201cMaybe I can give you some constructive feedback?\u201d I said, confident that my ELA teaching experience would pay off. Text complexity isn\u2019t something I often worry about.<\/p>\n<p>Two paragraphs in, and I was lost. So I buckled down and reread a few key sentences: \u201cOver the past 50 years, a picture has been developing of the brain\u2019s unique waste removal system. [\u2026] Here, we review the relevant literature with a focus on transport processes, especially the potential role of diffusion and advective flows. [\u2026] Communication relies on molecular transport, where transport rates determine the range-of-action for neurotransmitters and transport effects cell-to-cell communication (Ray and Heys, 2019).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nope. Still clueless. Time to admit my own hubris. I just don\u2019t have the background knowledge or the discipline-specific vocabulary in chemical engineering I need to understand an article titled, \u201cFluid flow and mass transport in brain tissue.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The power of <em>not <\/em>understanding (from a teacher\u2019s perspective)<\/h2>\n<p>Humbled as I was after attempting to read my sister\u2019s article, it dawned on me that I have asked students to do a similar kind of reading, and I have expected better results.<\/p>\n<p>The problem isn\u2019t that students shouldn\u2019t be reading complex, grade-level texts. In fact, they should be reading <em>more<\/em> of them, since we know <a href=\"https:\/\/www.act.org\/content\/dam\/act\/unsecured\/documents\/reading_summary.pdf\">students\u2019 ability to comprehend complex texts is a key determinant of their college and career readiness<\/a>. But learning from complex texts requires what literacy expert Tim Shanahan calls <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shanahanonliteracy.com\/blog\/new-evidence-on-teaching-reading-at-frustration-levels\">\u201caccommodative and supportive instruction.\u201d<\/a> In essence, if we want students to grapple with complex texts, we need to plan for their success.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a simple three-step process for setting students up for success with complex texts.<\/p>\n<h2><em>1. Understand what makes a text complex<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s common for many K\u201312 educational publishers and curriculum providers to report quantitative measures of text complexity, such as Lexile\u00ae. These measures can offer a good starting place for librarians, caregivers, and even students to explore and select reading materials. However, for classroom instruction, we need to dive deeper into the qualitative aspects of a text\u2019s complexity because doing so can better reveal what supports our students might need to access a text.<\/p>\n<p>There are four key qualitative dimensions to consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Purpose (for informational texts) or levels of meaning (for literary texts).<\/strong> Purpose refers to why the author wrote an informational text, what it\u2019s about, and its intended effect on the reader. Levels of meaning are the different ways a literary text can be interpreted, such as through themes or metaphors. A text may have a literal interpretation but also a deeper, more abstract meaning.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Structure. <\/strong>Structure refers to how an author connects ideas, processes, and events in a text. This includes how the text is organized as a whole, as well as within specific paragraphs or larger sections of text. Structure also includes visual elements and text features, such as headings or sidebars.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Language conventionality and clarity.<\/strong> Language conventionality refers to the vocabulary and sentence structures in a text, while language clarity refers to how dense or abstract the language is, as well as how challenging an author\u2019s stylistic choices, such as voice, diction, and tone, are.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Knowledge demands.<\/strong> Knowledge demands refer to the amount and type of knowledge (e.g., prior knowledge) a reader must bring to a text to access its full meaning. Types of knowledge can include general, common-practical, discipline-specific, culturally specific, and regionally specific knowledge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><em>2. Identify what makes a specific text complex<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>In my sister\u2019s article, the language and knowledge demands added the greatest text complexity, so it\u2019s no surprise my comprehension broke down in those areas.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, her article\u2019s purpose (to explain the brain\u2019s unique waste removal system) and structure (a review of relevant literature) were fairly explicit. This explicit information provided a helpful scaffold when the going got tough, which was often with word- and sentence-level meanings. I didn\u2019t know what \u201cadvective flows\u201d were, for instance, but I <em>did<\/em> know from the article\u2019s explicit purpose that they had a \u201cpotential role\u201d in the brain\u2019s \u201cwaste removal system.\u201d And while I couldn\u2019t fathom what the \u201crange-of-action\u201d for neurotransmitters might be, I could figure out from the syntax that these actions involved \u201ccell-to-cell communication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the end, I still had much to learn about \u201cmolecular transport,\u201d since its \u201crates\u201d and \u201ceffects\u201d seemed very important to brain health. But overall, I was getting much closer to the main gist of the article, and I was living and breathing Tim Shanahan\u2019s advice to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shanahanonliteracy.com\/blog\/trying-again-what-teachers-need-to-know-about-sentence-comprehension\">focus on sentence-level comprehension<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><em>3. Uncover the barriers students might face and plan accordingly<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>To anticipate potential barriers in text complexity for our students, we have to put ourselves in their shoes. When we compare students\u2019 prior knowledge to what a reader is expected to bring to a text, we can better plan to address any potential gaps. A great way to start this analysis is with a list of <a href=\"https:\/\/publuu.com\/flip-book\/24429\/594564\/page\/34\">questions developed for content-area read-alouds in K\u20138 classrooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In my case, the greatest barrier to understanding my sister\u2019s article was my lack of exposure to technical terms like \u201ctransport processes\u201d and scientific concepts like \u201cdiffusion.\u201d Because I couldn\u2019t tap into any prior knowledge, I couldn\u2019t connect these ideas to new learning. But I <em>did<\/em> have other assets to leverage. I knew the general meaning of academic words, like \u201crelies\u201d and \u201ctransport,\u201d even though I didn\u2019t know their specific meanings in this context. Still, that vocabulary knowledge helped me. It revealed the relationship between ideas in the text\u2014\u201cCommunication relies on molecular transport\u201d\u2014so I knew what questions to ask to better comprehend the text.<\/p>\n<p>Students will have their own unique barriers to a text\u2014but their own unique assets to leverage, too. To overcome barriers, try tapping into the <a href=\"https:\/\/eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov\/video\/funds-knowledge-video\">funds of knowledge<\/a> students bring with them to school, especially those from family, culture, and community. For example, medical and scientific texts like my sister\u2019s article are often full of Latin-based vocabulary. Native Spanish speakers are often better than native English speakers at understanding Latin-based vocabulary because Latin and Spanish share so many cognates (words with similar spellings and meanings across languages).<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that language and knowledge demands are only half the equation for accessing complex texts. Students will also need support in determining the purpose or levels of meaning of a text and in navigating its structure. Repeated exposure to informational and literary texts in different genres gives students a strong foundation, as does repeated practice with articulating an author\u2019s purpose and exploring the deeper meanings of a text, such as its themes and central ideas.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shanahanonliteracy.com\/blog\/does-text-structure-instruction-improve-reading-comprehension\">Explicitly teaching text structures<\/a> is another method that has positive effects on reading comprehension, including among students who are learning English. Remember that informational text structures are more varied and often more complex than literary text structures. And since students typically have less exposure to informational texts in school, they can greatly benefit from more explicit instruction.<\/p>\n<h2>Do a little extra (planning) to address text complexity<\/h2>\n<p>Helping all students access the content and meaning of complex texts is the first and most critical step in planning, but there\u2019s even more we can do to ensure all students succeed with complex texts. That\u2019s because preparing students to tackle complex texts requires sparking their interest and motivation just as much as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/2025\/7-ways-to-use-zpd-and-scaffolding-to-challenge-and-support-students\/\">providing appropriate scaffolds<\/a> to increase their access.<\/p>\n<p>Aspire to meet the following three extra goals in future lesson plans.<\/p>\n<h2><em>Planning goal #1: Make it engaging!<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>For many students, the term \u201ccomplex text\u201d sounds dreadfully boring. But we can flip that dynamic on its head by incorporating movement and expression into our lessons. While engaging students in text analysis is the primary goal, we can also find ways to tap into their creative talents.<\/p>\n<p>For example, students can tackle the language and structure demands of a text by working in small groups to memorize and perform an excerpt from the text, such as the prologue to Shakespeare\u2019s <em>Romeo and Juliet<\/em>. This might begin with choral readings, so students can learn how unfamiliar words are pronounced, and then progress to adding more expression (prosody) and movement as students pick up the rhythm of the language, such as stomping or clapping to Shakespeare\u2019s use of iambic pentameter.<\/p>\n<p>Students will be more engaged when learning difficult vocabulary or navigating complex text organization if they know they\u2019ll need the information to perform for other people. Questions like \u201cWhat does the word \u2018dignity\u2019 mean in \u2018Two households, both alike in dignity\u2019?\u201d or \u201cWhat is the purpose of a prologue?\u201d become more practical when students need the answers to create a strong performance. An added benefit of such explicit knowledge is that it provides a scaffold for students as they work through dense or difficult language in a text. My students often referred to the prologue of <em>Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, for instance, because it provides a concise summary of the play.<\/p>\n<h2><em>Planning goal #2: Make it accessible!<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Letting students tell you what they know and don\u2019t know about a topic is another authentic way to grapple with complex text, as I did when struggling with my sister\u2019s article. Students of any age can create their own questions to investigate. Mine was, \u201cWhat is molecular transport anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Students might explore a text\u2019s levels of meaning in small groups, for example, and then present, discuss, and revise their findings with other small groups. While this process can be done with any text, poetry is an excellent choice, especially when students can make their own selection. If your class includes multilingual learners, you might offer (or help students find) poems originally written in a home language, such as Spanish or African American English. If possible, provide a side-by-side comparison of the original poem and its translation into general academic English. This will prompt students to think about the meanings of specific words and phrases, and it will encourage multilingual learners to leverage their linguistic and cultural knowledge to assess whether meanings have been altered or lost in translation.<\/p>\n<p>Small group work is a great way to facilitate these discussions, and <a href=\"https:\/\/teachlivingpoets.com\/2019\/10\/22\/tri-color-poetry-annotations\/\">poetry also lends itself well to teaching students how to create and use text annotations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><em>Planning goal #3: Make it meaningful!<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>What do your students care about? What do their communities care about? What is important to this generation of young people? When we find ways to make complex texts more relevant to students\u2019 lived experiences and the real world, we add that extra bit of purpose, meaning, and motivation everyone needs to persist through a difficult task, such as dealing with text complexity.<\/p>\n<p>Consider that students might take a daunting issue, like the growth of AI, and work in small groups to investigate various aspects of it. Strive for tasks that require students to sort through misinformation and disinformation as they develop their own position on a topic. This will force them to consider the purpose of the texts they read, especially when conducting research.<\/p>\n<p>Research projects also help students think about the knowledge demands of the texts they write: Who is my intended audience? What do they already know about this subject? What knowledge outside the text do they need to bring to the text to understand my position? If the goal of the research project is to influence one\u2019s peers, students may need to find or develop primers on unfamiliar concepts so their texts can convince classmates rather than confuse them. Finally, you might culminate this research task with a student-led summit fashioned after a real-world event. This requires a little extra work and planning, but it\u2019s a powerful way to show students how their ability to navigate complex texts prepares them for global citizenship.<\/p>\n<h2>The power of understanding (from a reader\u2019s perspective)<\/h2>\n<p>When I attended my sister\u2019s dissertation defense over Zoom, I was thrilled to see the many features she included that made her presentation more accessible for the layperson (aka, me!). There were detailed diagrams, friendly definitions, and an impressive animation that finally revealed to me how molecular transport happens in the brain. While I still didn\u2019t understand everything, I understood a lot more than I did from reading the article alone. Most importantly, I understood the significance of my sister\u2019s work in her field, which (to be honest) was a more realistic purpose for reading her article in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>If we can give our students clarity about why they are reading\u2014and intentionally plan for their success\u2014we can better prepare them for real-world text complexity they\u2019re sure to encounter in whatever career they choose, whether it\u2019s in education, like me, or engineering, like my sister.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When was the last time you had to read something you couldn\u2019t understand? Stumped? That\u2019s probably because you\u2019re an excellent reader. I\u2019m an excellent reader, too, so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":20532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Understanding what constitutes text complexity is the first step in helping students understand difficult texts they encounter.","footnotes":""},"categories":[648],"tags":[619,620,629],"grade_level":[830,831,832],"product":[],"theme":[],"coauthors":[{"id":126,"name":"Julie Richardson, NWEA","link":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/author\/jrichardson\/","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif","48":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif","96":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif"}}],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to address text complexity and help students understand what they read - Teach. 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